The Right Kind of Knowledge

​Meditation
Colossians 1:9,10—For this reason also, since the day we heard this, we haven’t stopped praying for you.  We are asking that you may be filled with the knowledge of His will in all wisdom and spiritual understanding, so that you may walk worthy of the Lord, fully pleasing to Him, bearing fruit in every good work and growing in the knowledge of God.
 

Watchman Nee wrote in Changed into His Likeness,“The weakness of today’s knowledge is that it is mere information.  Without the strength of the Lord satisfying us and producing knowledge, we have no knowledge at all.”   When I think of knowledge, the word bombarded comes to mind. Truly we live in an age inundated with information.  Unfortunately, a brain packed with information does not necessarily produce wisdom.  All a person has to do to learn about most topics is enter a key word(s) in a search engine.  When I type the word knowledgeinto Google’s search engine, I get 1,200,000,000 results!  To put this in perspective, to exhaust every Google listing on knowledge using just 30 seconds per entry would take approximately 2,740 people working 8 hours every day for 75 years!    

Despite the reality that we live with information more accessible than ever, what A.W. Tozer wrote in The Pursuit of God in 1948 remains true.  “The world is perishing for lack of the knowledge of God and the church is famishing for want of His presence.” To wisely know God’s will accomplishes four things:
1.  We are able to walk worthy of the Lord—this makes us effective ambassadors for heaven.—2 Corinthians 5:20.
2.  We are pleasing to God which brings His favor.—Ecclesiastes 2:26
3.  We bear spiritual fruit in every good work.—John 15:2,4,5,8,16
4.  Our knowledge of God deepens.  This is an eternal benefit!  

So how do we get the right kind of knowledge? First, we saturate ourselves with God’s Word.  The Bible reveals God’s will regarding life and how we should live it.  It provides us bad examples of people who squandered their lives with frivolous choices and unholy conduct.  It models men and women who set their hearts to worship God and lived exemplary lives.  It gives us rules that will protect us and guidance for what we should avoid.  The Bible is the world’s best food—to neglect it is to invite spiritual malnutrition.  I’ve read through this book over 35 times and I’m constantly amazed at its richness.  Make the disciplined effort to study and apply it on a moment-by-moment basis!

Second, we pray and actively listen to the Holy Spirit. “When the Spirit of truth comes, He will guide you into all the truth . . . He will glorify Me, because He will take from what is Mine and declare it to you” (John 16:13,14).  God knew that that best way for us to know Him was to give of Himself to us through His Spirit.  He lives in those of us who have committed to following Christ and His leading is invaluable. Watchman Nee noted in Love Not the World,  “The Christian lives, and is guided, not by rules specifying just how far he may mix with men, but by these inward qualities which are mediated to him by God’s Holy Spirit.”  Something to think about . . . in reveration!
 
©2015 Daniel York  ARR.  Reveration is the weekly devotional ministry of First Cause.  If you would like to receive these devotionals go to www.firstcause.org and click on the “Click here to receive weekly devotionals” box. Unlimited permission to copy this devotional without altering text or profiteering is allowed subject to inclusion of this copyright notice.      
 
Ecclesiastes 12:10-The Teacher sought to find delightful sayings and to accurately write words of truth.  (Holman CSB)